The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1887-11-02
HISTORY OF THE nusrLE.
The impetus Which Has Borne It Through
Successive Stages Of Growth.

Now, we don't mean the great bust
ness hustle which belongs to the early
fall and winter trade, nor the great
hustle of the humming and whirling
marts of manufacturing energy. We
mean the great hustle of modern fash
ion.
Nothing has outstripped the hustle in
it's gig"ntic stride for prodigious excel
lcnce. 1t is paradoxical that this "out-
ward FORM of fashion, which has never
been literally in front, has still left all
modistic rivals behind.
We can recall when this startlingly
reproductive fruit received the distinct
impetus which has borne it through
successive stages TO tho present oxtraor-
binary condition of development. Tho
hustle got n wondrous impetus from an
accident and alarm of the war. We
have ntently observed its onward
march toward immensely for more than
twenty years; and, now that it has
grown large enough to comprehend this
commentary, wo pay to its historic
origin our respectful compliments.
The hustle of the war period in tho
south was cut crescent-shapod, was
hand-scwcd, and was then padded
through an open end with cotton or
SawduSt. IL was q modest, unobtrusive
hustle in its manners and when proper
~ adjusted WIS quite invisible to the
wcaror and nearly so to the world.
Like certain lunar eclipses, it could be
viewed only from n very limited area.
When Shorman'S Christian battalions
were beaten through the backways of
doomed, tor prudential reasons, best to
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money and v~aluables, where they would
not confront these patriots. 1t was not
nj first suspected that the soldiers would
appropriate these effects, but it was
feared that the gilt b~ric-a-brac, and
brooch, and bracelet jcwelry might at
tract their admiration and impede their
march by tempting them to stop and
examine the precious wares.
When brought into full relief by pow
crfui field lenses it was at last seen that
ShCrman's Christian battalions were an
army Of incoutinent kloptomaniacs,
and that new ~ingcnuitiCs would DC in
constant need TO escape their keen and
acute methods of detecting tho secret
places Of hidden treasures,
Hiding places were numerous in
truth, but their instincts for stealage
were quito rs diverse and quito rs
many.
At this crisis tho hustle played a his
toric part.
1t became a safc-dcspo,i lit for imperil-
CO jowclry possessions.
Both cotton and sawdust Dustles were
now brought into n new use. They
were ripped and rid Of their waste,
and then we're r%ewaddcd, but this time
with small wares and valued CONS.
Two abnormal effects followed, the first
bong a disturbance Of the symmetry
and gravity of the former hustle, tho
second being n marked increase in its
proportions. This made it the moro
observable, and this, too, led to its
eventual detection by certain OF the SOL
dicrS, which discovery eliminated in
the theft of many bustles, together with
their precious and highly-prized con
tents.
What was next TO doP
S!lrCwd and resourceful maidens soon
fell upon another device. There was
continual peril of loss while tho bustles
were worn in their allotted places upon
the person, but there was hope of escape
for them if they could DO successfully
concealed elsewhere. But where, oil
where In the house? No! for Sher
man entered with lurid fagots. In the
woods? No! for his marauders roostet
upon the coughs.
Soihc noble women resolved to bury
their irinkctS in the fields. The broad
acres thus became tho depository o.
their CHARMS and treasures and tho
earth covered up thcir-bustlcs.
Sac yondcr dune where tho ~tasselcd
stalk l. holding 10 the breeze and you
could iicar the rustic of the corn-bladef
Wei, once YOU could hear the rustic O,
the hustle. See those tiny hills whonct
the hopeful germ of the happy potato is
looking toward the sunP Well, those
Iitj.o hills wcro once sown broadcast
with those beautiful suggestions of
dromodarial architecture known IN the
p%arlanco Of worldly fashion as-bus-
ties.
What became of themP
No can not answer for them all
Nor can we reprcss tho thought that
had they all taken root and ripened and
risen in luxuriant lovclincss what a
harry of bustlcs there would have
have cen! But, like other tender and
prccarious vegetation, bustles had TO
take their chances-and more, too.
Some of them, ms before, fell 10 the
cupIdlty of Sherman's Christian SOL
diers, who relcntlcssly uprootod them;
other, after tho passage of military
peril, were rcsurrccted to DO trans
planted elsewhere, and others still, be-
ing unmarked, were never found by
those who had hastily and hopefully en-
tombed them.
But q great and unexpected day had
dawned for bustles. OF the number
that were left in tho earth q vast pro-
portion of those which had been filed
with sawdust in time took root, and OK
%ubcrantly blossomed and f~ourished.
Those which had contained cotton,
however, went generally to seed.
We would say hero that from this
startling botanic phenomenon and the
impressive date and situation We have
been enabled to locate Enthusiastically
the rise and progress Of tho American
hustle; and wo been convinced, too,
that nothing short of tho most pcrtina-
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